Team work: Breach in Sagiyoon-Matiari Bund averted

The irrigation staff, along with heavy machinery, reached the spot two hours later and began filling the leakage

SUKKUR:

Many cities and towns of district Khairpur were saved from likely flooding by the timely detection of a leakage in the Sagiyoon-Matiari Bund near Ranipur late on Friday night. The residents of the nearby towns and villages rushed to the scene and began repairing the leakage themselves, hours before the arrival of the irrigation officials. Pakistan Muslim League- Functional MNA Syed Kazim Ali Shah also rushed to the scene and supervised the repair of the bund.

Following tremendous pressure of the River Indus, a leakage occurred in the Sagiyoon-Matiari bund near Ranipur, after which the residents of nearby villages and towns rushed to repair with the help of tree branches and earth filling. Hearing this, Shah also rushed to the scene and, after informing the irrigation authorities, supervised the repair work. The irrigation staff, along with heavy machinery, reached the spot two hours later and began filling earth and stone to plug the leakage.

An officer in irrigation department requesting anonymity said that the officials have been directed to patrol the vulnerable points round the clock, but they are not performing their duty. He said that leakages occur due to rat burrows, which often develop into breaches, adding that without the local's timely intervention, the leakage could have proved disastrous.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 9^th, 2015.